1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a strand carrier, particularly to a strand carrier for braiding apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional strand carrier comprises a strand base 11 with an upper base 111 and a lower base 112, two retainers 113 disposed within the lower base 112, a board 12 attached to the upper base 111, a strand stem 13 coupled to the board 12, and a strand supplier 14 operatively mounted to the board 12; wherein, the lower base 112 provides with two parallel openings 114, and each of which consists of a retaining plate 115 and a guiding tab 116 extended outward from the opening 114; further, the guiding tab 116 is inclined to the opening 114 by an angle “θ1”. The strand stem 13 has a strand pulley 131 and a guiding hole 132 pivotally disposed thereon.
Still, the strand supplier 14 has a spool 141 with strands 2 threaded thereon, and a braid controlling device 15 disposed on the board 12 for adjusting a rotation of the spool 141; wherein, a gear pulley 142 attaches to one side of the spool 141, and the device 15 includes an adjusting lever 151 pivoted to the board 12, a spring 152 mounted in the strand stem 13, a rod 153 with one side thereof disposed in the strand stem 13 for being propelled by the spring 152 and the lever 151, and two ancillary strand pulleys 154 mounted on both sides of the adjusting lever 151.
In manipulation, the strand carrier 1 is mounted on a braiding machine and the machine here is omitted in the figures; further, the adjusting lever 151 with its pawl is inserted into the gear pulley 142 by the pressing of the rod 153 as shown in FIG. 3. Also, the strand 2 supplied from the strand supplier 14, thence to and around the ancillary strand pulleys 154 and the strand pulley 131, and then through the guiding hole 132. While braiding, the guiding tab 116 moves along a “8” track on the braiding machine to tension the strand 2, which rotates the ancillary strand pulleys 154 and further raises the adjusting lever 151. Thus, the lever 151 has its pawl to move away from the gear pulley 142 as shown in FIG. 4 and the spool 141 remains rotating to free the strand 2. Relatively, a certain amount of slack is also produced in the strand 2 while moving along the track, and the spring 152 forces the rod 153 to press the lever 151 back to the gear pulley 142 so as to pause drawing the strand 2.
However, due to a higher braiding speed and that the strand 2 facilely drives the lever 151 up while the guiding tab 116 shuttles on the braiding machine, the lever 151 can not precisely have its pawl to be interposed between the gear pulley 142 in time of a continuous pulling by the machine, which results of the strand 2 being incessantly drawn out or even being snapped under the tension, thus the strand 2 can not be smoothly interlaced into a fabric and which affects the braiding efficiency and quality.